Topeka ? Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has scheduled public meetings next week to provide information on health insurance changes under the Affordable Care Act.

The first meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Overland Park at the Best Conference Center of the Kansas University Edwards campus, 12604 Quivira Rd.

Two hearings are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sept. 19 in Wichita at the Wichita State Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th Street North.

The presentations are expected to last about two hours and will cover general information on how the ACA will affect Kansans. Insurance department personnel will demonstrate how the new online insurance marketplace application process will work. These online marketplaces are scheduled to be operational by Jan. 1, 2014.

“We won’t be debating the merits of the changes; that’s not our job as employees of the insurance department,” Praeger said.

“We just want to make sure that people have all the necessary information to work through the changes put in place by federal law,” she said.

More public meetings on the ACA are scheduled for later in September and October across the state.

In addition, the Kansas Insurance Department has started a website, insureKS.org, which provides information on accessing coverage.

“I think that Kansans who go online to the new site will find many answers to the questions that have been raised about the new health insurance provisions,” Praeger said. “We have tried to provide information and education pieces that will give them a chance to get the facts for themselves.”